Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker criticises discussions on limiting veto rights for new EU entrants

Nino Tsilosani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday expressed scepticism about the European Union’s enlargement agenda, arguing that current discussions do not reflect a genuine intention to expand the bloc and warning that proposals limiting veto rights for new members would create unequal conditions within the Union.

In her interview with Imedi TV, Tsilosani noted that recent statements by European officials indicate that discussions about enlargement have been influenced by geopolitical developments, particularly the war in Ukraine.

“These discussions are not really about enlargement, because no one is actually planning to enlarge the European Union. Marta Kos herself said in her latest interview that the EU only began thinking about enlargement after the war in Ukraine started, and that discussions about enlargement were seen as a way to encourage and motivate Ukrainians. Many people talk about this issue, but they are mostly just making that fact public”, she said.

The Vice Speaker also emphasised that previous stages of the enlargement process have demonstrated a lack of genuine commitment to admitting new members

“To this day, at every stage, we have seen that talk of enlargement has never been genuinely real on their part. Even if there were discussions about EU enlargement, we can see how insulting the conditions attached to it could be”, Tsilosani stressed.

She argued that membership without full institutional rights would be unacceptable, particularly if new member states were denied veto powers available to existing members.

“It is completely irrational to become a member of the European Union, assume all the obligations, but have none of the rights. The proposal that newly admitted member states could be deprived of veto rights is exactly related to having no rights. If a newly admitted member does not have veto rights, it means that it would have to unconditionally follow every decision made by the existing and priority member states”, Tsilosani concluded.